A Rainy Friday Afternoon.

Caught up in a storm.

A trip to Oberwart was on the cards for me today. After my lesson I headed out in sweltering heat, car equipped with cooler box complete with ice blocks. An almost thirty kilometer return trip needs ice boxes during summer. Winter is just dandy although one doesn't buy so many meltables then.

Bob and I have splashed out on a combi-fridge freezer and now that our freezer compartment has morphed into a freezer apartment, shopping in the frozen aisle is rather fun. The fridge side of it is much bigger too so that fresh vegetables will keep much longer. Our rationale is that we don't need to go shopping as often as before...the jury is still out but it is great to have this appliance. The only downside of it is that we keep it in the back bedroom as our kitchen lends no space for it. Midnight snacks are a breeze!

I had just finished getting all that I needed from the mall when the lightening and thunder started. Lunchtime as well. One of the thunderbolts was so loud and close that the cashier almost fell from her chair.

The sky was that ominous almost black colour, raindrops were starting to fall with alarming haste and thickness while shoppers were squeezing themselves into any area not reachable by rain. I decided to run to the car as I didn't want to be stuck at the mall for another hour. Yes, that storm wasn't moving.

The rain was so thick and non-stop that even the strongest setting of our windscreen wipers were battling to give me a view that wasn't opaque. Merely inching out the car park was a stressful affair as some folks deemed the rules of the road washed away with the rain. A stop is a stop and a turn needs a signal. Yikes, some people!

The storm lessened as I was driving toward home but they did announce on the radio that Oberwart / Pinkafeld and Hartberg took the brunt of the storm and many fire departments were called out to help pump cellars and sort out the ensuing damage. Nature, beautiful but dangerous nonetheless.

Biggi